Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
To run Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (2019) on PC you need at least a Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64x2 5600+ processor and a NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 420 or ATI™ Radeon™ HD 6850 or Intel® HD Graphics 4000 or better with 2 GB VRAM, with 4GB of RAM and 15GB of free storage. For higher settings and frame rates, the recommended specs are a 2.4 Ghz i5 or greater or AMD equivalent and a Nvidia® GTX 650 or AMD HD 5850 or better with 8GB of RAM. Check your exact PC against Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition with our free Can I Run It tool, estimate your frame rate with the FPS Estimator, or see the best GPU for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.
System Requirements
Minimum
- CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64x2 5600+
- GPU: NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 420 or ATI™ Radeon™ HD 6850 or Intel® HD Graphics 4000 or better with 2 GB VRAM
- RAM: 4
- Storage: 15
Recommended
- CPU: 2.4 Ghz i5 or greater or AMD equivalent
- GPU: Nvidia® GTX 650 or AMD HD 5850 or better
- RAM: 8
- Storage: 15
Building a PC to play Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition at its best
Meeting the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition minimum requirements (a NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 420 or ATI™ Radeon™ HD 6850 or Intel® HD Graphics 4000 or better with 2 GB VRAM) is enough to launch the game, but it won't give you high frame rates at 1440p or 4K. The recommended Nvidia® GTX 650 or AMD HD 5850 or better is a solid target, and stepping up to a GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, RTX 5080 or Radeon RX 9070 XT gives you the headroom for ultra settings, ray tracing and high-refresh play. On mid-range cards, DLSS 4 and FSR frame generation can lift Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition's frame rate substantially, while a flagship RTX 5090 drives 4K at maximum settings.
The processor matters just as much: pairing your graphics card with a Ryzen 7 9800X3D or an Intel Core Ultra, at least 8GB (ideally 32GB) of DDR5 RAM and a fast Gen5 NVMe SSD removes the stutter and long load times that can hold Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition back. For modern textures at 4K, aim for a GPU with 12–16GB of VRAM so you never run short.
The same premium components also decide whether your rig is VR ready: if you game in virtual reality on a Meta Quest 3, Valve Index or PlayStation VR2, a strong GPU and CPU are what hold a steady 90 FPS. Check your exact setup against Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition with the free Can I Run It tool, or see the best GPU for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition — Frequently Asked Questions
What are the minimum requirements for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition?
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition needs at least a Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64x2 5600+ CPU and a NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 420 or ATI™ Radeon™ HD 6850 or Intel® HD Graphics 4000 or better with 2 GB VRAM graphics card, 4GB of RAM and 15GB of storage.
What are the recommended specs for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition?
For a smooth experience, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition recommends a 2.4 Ghz i5 or greater or AMD equivalent and a Nvidia® GTX 650 or AMD HD 5850 or better with 8GB of RAM.
How much RAM does Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition need?
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition requires 4GB of RAM as a minimum, with 8GB recommended.
What GPU do you need to run Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition?
The minimum graphics card for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is a NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 420 or ATI™ Radeon™ HD 6850 or Intel® HD Graphics 4000 or better with 2 GB VRAM, while a Nvidia® GTX 650 or AMD HD 5850 or better is recommended for higher settings. Check any GPU against this game with our Can I Run It tool.
